Air conditioning system



' June 16, 1942.

E. B. MILLER AIR CONDITIONINGSYSTEM Filed Dec. 21, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 QQQQE WW.

June r E. B. MILLER 8 6,920

AIR- CONDITIONING SYSTEM Filed Dec. 21, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 16, 1942 AIR. CONDITIONING SYSTEM Ernest B. Miller, Annapolis, Md., assignor to n. B. Miller Engineering Company, Inc., a corporation of Maryland 7 Application December 21, 1939, serial No. 310,453

UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE Claims.

- wherein the air to be conditioned is caused to' flow through a solid adsorbent material so as to extract moisture from the'air, and wherein a gaseous medium is utilized to effect reactivation of the adsorbent material.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a continuous system for conditioning air wherein the air to be conditioned is caused to flow in one direction through a solid, adsorbent material so as to extract moisture from the air,

and wherein a gaseous medium flowing in thereverse direction is utilized to eflect reactivation of the adsorbent material.

A further object of the present invention is 'to provide a continuous system for conditioning air-in which an absorber unit of the rotary type carrying a. solid adsorbent material is caused to travel progressively through anair conditionin the air conditioning chamber. a

A still further object 01' the present invention is to provide acontinuous system for conditioning air in which an adsorber unitin the form of an annular cage having a plurality of pervious' layers 01' solid adsorbent material arranged there-- around is mounted for rotationabout a hori- 'zontal axis, and is so'disposed with relation-to an air conditioning chamber, and reactivating and purging chambers that the cage in its course v 01 travel passes progressively through the respective chambers.

'A still further object or the present invention is to provide a continuous system for conditioning air employing a solid adsorbent materialwherein the reactivation is eifected by first contacting the adsorbent material with a gaseous medium of an elevated temperature to liberate the adsorbate, and then with a gas heated to screen.

an elevated temperature to' purge the adsorbent.

material of any objectionable matter that may be present. I

. 'A still further object of the present invention is to provide a continuous system for conditioning air which enables the use'ot beds of solid adsorbent material having "characteristics substantially like silica gel or the gel of other acti- Vated hydrous oxides of a thickness of approximately /4 of an inch or less and made up or particles of such size that will pass through a 14 mesh screen and be retained one mesh Astill further object 01' the present invention is to provide'a continuous system for conditioning air which is highly efficient and reliable in operation, and which is adapted to condition air relatively inexpensively.

Other objects and features of the present in vention will bemore apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with. the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a diagrammatical elevational view, partly in section, representing an air conditioning system in accordancewith the invention.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged iragmentai view, partly in end elevation and in section, showing the structure and arrangement of the, layers of adsorbent material within the annular cage of the ing chamber wherein moisture from th air to adsorber unit. 'be conditioned is taken up or adsorbed by the Figure 4 is a transverse section on the line 4-4 adsorbent material, and then through reactivaof- Figure 3. r

tion and purging chambers in which the adsorb- Fi ure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 ent material is revivifled and restored for reuse or Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the annular cage of the adsorber unit.

a Figure 7 is an enlarged iragmental view of the upper portion oi. the partition strip and adjacent adsorbent layer units of Figure 3 showing the means for connecting the units and strip together. 3

Referring to' the drawings, the numeral ll, Figure 1, designates a casing withinwhich is mounted an adsorber unit H for rotation about ahorizontal axis. The adsorber unit is in the form of an annular cage and-comprises annular rings i2 and I3, Figures 1 and 6, betweenwhich are disposed a plurality of radially arrangedpartition strips l4 suitably spaced from each other 'so as to form a series of open ended compart-' ments l5 thereina Each of these strips is pref-- erably made of spring steel and is provided with curvedjends as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3.

of a nut 24.

Fixedly positioned with the annular cage, Figure 1, are radially plates l8 and I1,

mentaltoeachofthesealsltareseals "and for cooperation with the outer ends of the partition strips l4. These latter seals II and 20 are likewise of the same construction, and as shown in Figure 3 are resiliently mounted. Also, the seals It and 20 are a width sufficient that at least one of the-two adjacent radially outer ends of the strips are in constant engagement therewith to form a gas tight seal. The plates I! and I1, seals It, and seals l9 and 20 cooperate with the partition strips M to define a dehydrating chamber 2| and a reactivating' chamber 22. a a 4 Mounted within each'of the compartments it, Figure 1, are two pervious layers of solid adsorbent material arranged in aradially outwardly diverging relationship. Each layer, Figures 3, 4, and 5 is assembled as a unit and comprises two foraminous grid plates '23 arranged "in spaced relation and supported between bottom and top channelmembers 24 and 25, solid adsorbent material disposed between the grid plates, and headed bolts 26 passing transversely through the grid plates and locked thereto by means of nuts 21. The bottom channel member 24 is provided with a leg 28 projecting into a U- shaped flange member 28 of the annular cage and supported therein. The top channel member is also provided with aleg ill, Figure "I, which projects into a U-shaped flange 3| of a cap plate 32, the cap plate being detachably secured to the adjacent partition strip l4 by means of a bolt 33 through the cap plate and partition strip and secured thereto by means The solid adsorbent material employed may be an adsorbent having characteristics substantially like silica gel or the gel of other activated hydrous oxides. Preferably, silical gel is used. In making the pervious layer of solid adsorbent material particles of silica gel are used which are of such size that they will pass through a 14 mesh screen and be retained on a 20 mesh screen. Also, the spacing of the grid plates 23 is so arranged as to form a thin layer which is of uniform thickness throughout. preferably of a thickness of approximately 74 of an inch. or less. The use of a layer made up of gel particles of 14 to 20 mesh and of a thickness ofv of an inch or less is more effective in adsorption eiiiciency due to the great rapidity with which it gives: up heat to the passing stream of air to be dehydrated.

To the outer surface of the annular ring l2, Figure 4, is iixedly secured a circular ball race member 35 on which is mounted for movement therearound a circular table 36. Fixedly secured to the exterior surface of the annular ring |3-is also a circular ball-race member .31 on' which is mounted for movementgitherearound a circular table 38, which carries a circular gear suitable mechanism not shown. The pinion It may be driven in either clockwise or counterclockwise direction. with the device as shown in Figure l the pinion is driven in a counterclockwise directiom i Disposed within the reactivating chamber 22, Figure l, and suitably spaced from the seal I! is a partition member 4| for cooperation with the outer ends of the partition strips H of the annular cage. This partition member 4| and -seal l9 cooperate with the partition strips to form a purging chamber 42.

Vertically disposed within the unit H, is a heat exchanger 43 through which is introduced the air required for use in the reactivating chamber 22, such air being delivered to said chamber by conduit l3. Arranged within the dehydrating chamber 2| adjacent to the heat exchanger 42. is an after cooler 44 comprising a vertically disposed fluid conduiting coil 45, said coil being provided with a plurality of heat conducting flns '45 protruding from the exterior thereof. The fluid such as water or air is preferably caused to pass into the section of the coil 45 farthest away from the adsorber unit through the inlet which is'positioned adjacent the top of the dehydrating chamber 22 and out of the section nearest the adsorber unit through the outlet which is located adjacent the bottom of such chamber. Thismanner of circulation has the advantage in that a given amount of cooling water removes a much greater quantity. of heat from the dehydrated air.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2 a burner 40 is disposed within the reactivating'chamber 22 to which is supplied a suitable fuel from a source of supply not shown. It is preferred to use a Baseous or liquid fuel which can be brought to the burner through the pipe 41. I h

The dehydrating chamber 2|, Figure 1, is provided'witha door 41' for access to the adsorber unit in the event that replacementof any of the pervious layer units containing solid adsorbent material is n.

\ Referring to'Figure 1 with the adsorber unit rotating in a clockwise manner, air to be conditioned enters the 'fllter 48 which removes me- 7 chanical impurities therefrom tovprotect the'adtrack 39 in mesh with a pinion 40 drivenby any sorbent material and is delivered to the fan 49 which places it'under sumcientpre'ssure to deliver .it into the duct III. The duct 50 inturn delivers the air into the inner hollow sector. SI of the annular cage of the adsorber unit which is within the confines of the dehydrating chamber 2|. The sector BI is defined by the radial plates l8 and I1 and the seals ll carried by the ends thereof.

From the, interior of the sector II the air enters the open ended compartments llin multiple which are travelling through the dehydrating chamber 2| and passes through the pervious layers of solid adsorbent material contained in -each compartment; In through these layers the air is deprived of its moisture byfvirtue of tit-being adsorbed within the pores of the adsorbent material. The dehydrated air passes out of these compartments through its opposite ends into the surrounding space of the dehydrating chamber from which it is brought into indirect contact with a heat exchanger 43 through which atmospheric air of ordinary temperature for use in the reactivating chamber is flowing therethrough. The bringing of the dehydratedair into indirect contact with dehydrating chamber 2|, Figure 1, adjacent-the adsorber the heat exchanger 43' results in the extraction of aportion' of its heat of adsorption therefrom. The dehydrated air with part of its heat'of adsorption removed. is next brought into indirect contact with the after cooler 44 through 5,

which a cooling fluid of the predetermined temperature is caused to flow, the direction. of flow beinginto the section of the coil 45 farthest away from the adsorber unit Ii through the inletwhich is positioned adjacent the top of'the dehydrating chamber and out of the section of the coil nearest the adsorber unit through the outlet which is located-adjacent the bottom of such chamber..-The passageof the dehydrated air through the after cooler removes the remaining portion of the heat of adsorptionand cools the air to therequired temperature. 9 From the l of the annular cage chamber 2| are brought into the reactivating chamber 22. During the course of travel of these compartments through the reactivating chamber a hot gaseous medium enters through their outer open ends and passes through the pervious layers of solid adsorbent material contained therein. In passing through these layers the gaseous medium heats the adsorbent material comprising the layers and drives off the adsorbed moisture, the partially cooled gaseous medium and its burden of moisture being-discharged through the inner ends of the compartments into a fan 54 by means of a duct 55. vFrom the fan'54 it is discharged through the conduit 56 to the atmosphere.

The hot gaseous medium for this reactivation of the adsorbent material is produced by the combustion of any suitable fuel in the reactivating chamber 22. It is preferred, however, to burn a gaseous or liquid fuel which can be brought to the reactivating chamber through the pipe 41.

Air for supporting combustion of the fuel is brought to the reactivating chamber through heat exchanger 43 and conduit 53, and-this air is preheated as a resultof passing through the heat exchanger in indirect contact with the dehydrated air flowing toward the outlet .duct 52. Thus, the gaseous medium comprises air containing the products of combustion.

The compartments l5 of the annular cage of the adsorber unit II which have just left the reactivating chamber 22 are brought into the purging chamber 42. The adsorbent material of the layers contained in these compartments are hot and filled with burned gases from the reactivating chamber and in order to remove these gases and partially cool the layers before they move: into position for use again in the dehydrating the compartments within the-purging chamber.

is. discharged into'the fan 54 bymeans of the duct 55; From this fan it is deliveredto the atmosphere through the conduit 55.

5 The use. of heated air of substantially. the same or, slightly lower temperature than that of .the gaseous medium employed for reactivation as the purging air has the advantage in that'the; ad-

sorptive capacity of the adsorbent material is not wastefully usedup beforeit reaches the adsorption stage in the dehydrating chamber. If air at room temperature were used as the purging air the adsorbent material would at once begin to adsorb moisturefrom the purging air, thereby resulting in partial impairment of the adsorptive capacity for moisture of the adsorbent material before it advanced to the adsorption stagev in the dehydrating-chamber.

If desired,part of the conditionedair may be admixed withthe incoming air to be dehydrated.

This may be effected by opening the damper '60 to the desired extent, in the conduit 6i. The admixing of conditioned air with the incoming air, produces a dehydrated air of lower moisture content that'that of the dehydrated air obtained by the passage of fresh air exclusively through chamber, heated air of substantially the same or slightly lower temperature than that of the gasber is passed through these layers from the outer to the inner ends of the compartments containing them. This may be readily eifected'by tapping off a pipe 51 from the air duct 50 and leading it through the reactivating chamber into the purging chamber 42. The air in passing through the pipe 51 has its temperature considerably raised due to indirect contact with the gaseous medium in the reactivating chamber. The pipe 51 is provided with a damper 58 which gives positive control over the quantity of air delivered to the purging chamber from the air duct 50. The purging air passing from the inner ends of a room conditions'without resorting to the conditioning system. It is to be noted that on certaindays the outside air is so saturated with moisture that it would be impossible to reduce the-same to the degree desiredfor' inside ture.

Although only one modification o'f the air con ditioning system embodying the invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

Having fully'described the invention, what I claim as newand desire to secure byLetters 'Patent is:

1. In an air conditioning system, a casing, an annular cage mounted in said casing for rotation about a horizontal axis and having a plurality of radially arranged partitions forming a series 7 andcooperating with the partitions of said cage to divide said casing into a dehydrating chamber and a reactivating chamber, means for delivering air to be dehydrated through the compartments while travelling through the dehydrating chamber to thereby cause the adsorbent material to extract moisture from the air by adsorption, means for passing a gaseous medium in heat exchangingrelationship with the dehydrated air to eifect preheating thereof, means for further heating said gaseous medium to a relatively high temperature, means for delivering said gaseous medium through the compartments while travelling through the reactivating' chamber, and means to circulate a cooling fluid in indirect contact with the dehydrated air before discharge from the dehydrating chamber to cool the same.

2. An adsorber comprising, in combination, an annular cage mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis and having a plurality of radially arranged partitions forming a series of compartments open at their radially outer ends, a pluralityof adsorbent cells insertable into and 1'8! movable from said compartments through the open radially outer ends ,thereof, means on said this admixcage for supporting at least two of said cells within each of said compartments in a radially 891M relation outwardly diverging relationship. and detachable 1 means for fixedly retaining said cellsin their supportedposition in each of said compartments.

' 3. An adsorbercomprising, in combination,- an annular cage mounted for rotation about horizontal axis and having a plurality Q1. radial y ments open at their radially outer endsnan a sorbent cellinsertable intoand removable irom each of said compartments through the open radially outer end thereof, each cell comprising arranged partitions forming a series ot-compartlilioraminous grid plates interposed between'top each 01 said compartments, and detachablemeansin association with the top channel member-oi each of-the supported cells and theadiacent partition i'orflxedly. retaining said cell in position;

4.-An adsorber comprising, in combination, an

annular cage mounted for rotation about a horizontal axisand having a plurality oi radially arranged partitions forming a series of compartments open at their radially. outer ends;.an adsorbent cell insertable into and removable from each of said compartments through'the open radially. outer end thereofleach cell comprising ioraminous grid plates interposed-between top and bottom channel members together in to each other, and material disposed between said grid a e embodying,spacedz-radiitliyv arranged flange members, on said cage for receiving the bottom channel-members of said cells to 'support a cell within eachoi' said compartments, and detachable means in association'with the top channel member of cache! the supported cells and the adjacent par-' tition ior fixedly retaining said cell in position.

5. An adsorber comprising, in combination, an annular cage mounted'i'or rotation about a horizontal axis and having a plurality of radially arrang d partitions forming a series of compartments. open at their radially outer ends, an adsorbentcell insertable into and removable irom each. of said compartments through the open radially outer end thereof, each cell comprising foraminous grid plates interposed between top andebpttom channel members secured together in spaced relation to each other, and solid adsorbent material disposed between said grid plates, means em dying -spaced-- flange members radially arranged on saidscagerintermediate each 0! said compartments for. receiving the bottom channel member 0! saidcells to; support at least two 0! said cells in a radiallyoutwardly; diverging relationship in each compartment, and detachable means embracingthe top channel member'oi ea'ch oi the supported cells and the adjacent partition said'cells in V ERNEST namrm. 

